Free Tibet

Tibet Reciprocity Act Passes in the US Congress
By Richard Finney

The Potala Palace, former residence of Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, is shown in a file photo.

In a strong show of bipartisan support, the U.S. Congress on Dec. 11 passed legislation demanding access to Tibet for American journalists and diplomats now routinely denied entry by Chinese authorities to the Beijing-ruled Himalayan region.
The Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2018 will require the U.S. Secretary of State, within 90 days of the bill being signed into law, to identify Chinese officials responsible for excluding U.S. citizens from China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, and then ban them from entering the United States.
The bill had earlier passed in September in the U.S. House of Representatives, and then went to the Senate for approval.
The legislation is based on the diplomatic principle of reciprocity, in which “countries should provide equal rights to one another’s citizens,” the Washington D.C.-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) said in a Dec. 11 statement welcoming passage of the bill.
Travel by Americans in Tibet is now highly restricted, though “Chinese citizens, journalists from state-sponsored propaganda outlets and bureaucrats of the Chinese Communist Party travel freely throughout the US and lobby the American government on Tibetan issues,” ICT said.
A formerly independent nation, Tibet was taken over by and incorporated into China by force nearly 70 years ago, following which Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and thousands of his followers fled into exile in India.
Chinese authorities now maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of ethnic and religious identities, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.
“China’s repression in Tibet includes keeping out those who can shine a light on its human rights abuses against the Tibetan people,” Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), one of the bill’s sponsors in the Senate, said in a statement.
“We should not accept a double standard where Chinese officials can freely visit the United States while at the same blocking our diplomats, journalists and Tibetan-Americans from visiting Tibet.”
“I look forward to President Trump signing this bill into law that will help restore some measure of reciprocity to America’s relationship with China,” Rubio said.

Richard Gere is not in big movies anymore because China hates him

By Aine Ryan
Richard Gere hasn't made a big studio movie in nearly a decade, and China is to blame.
"There are definitely movies that I can't be in because the Chinese will say, 'Not with him,'" Richard told The Hollywood Reporter.

"I recently had an episode where someone said they could not finance a film with me because it would upset the Chinese."
The Pretty Woman star's remarks follow the Wall Street Journal's declaration that "You Can’t Make Movies Without China," noting that the country's $6.6 billion box-office total last year came second only to the United States'.
China's disdain for Richard stems from the 67-year-old's political remarks at the 1993 Academy Awards.
While presenting an award for art direction, he went off-script to protest China's occupation of Tibet and its "horrendous, horrendous human rights situation."
Then, in 1997, Richard starred in the thriller Red Corner as an American businessman who falls foul of China's legal system when he is wrongfully accused of murder.
"Everyone was happy with the film," Richard said. 

"I get calls from the heads of the studio. Went on Oprah. Then, out of nowhere, I get calls saying, 'We don't want you doing press.' MGM wanted to make an overall deal with the Chinese. China told them, 'If you release this film, we're not buying it.' And so, they dumped it."
That year, he was given a lifelong ban from entering China and soon found the backlash creeping into every aspect of his career.
"There was something I was going to do with a Chinese director, and two weeks before we were going to shoot, he called saying, 'Sorry, I can't do it,'" the American Gigolo and Chicago star revealed. 

"We had a secret phone call on a protected line. If I had worked with this director, he, his family would never have been allowed to leave the country ever again, and he would never work."
In 2008, Richard called for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics. 

He also continues to support the cause through his two foundations, the International Campaign for Tibet and The Gere Foundation in New York.
The star – who is currently busy with two small budget feature films, Norman and The Dinner – has accepted his Hollywood fate.
"I'm not interested in playing the wizened Jedi in your tentpole," he said. 

"I was successful enough in the last three decades that I can afford to do these [smaller films] now."

Chinese activist lawyer Chen Guangcheng (L) stands alongside actor Richard Gere (R) after being presented Tom Lantos Human Rights Prize Jan 29, 2013.